The Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam Nguyen Thien Nhan arrived to Hungary for an official three-day visit. His meetings focused on research and development (R&D), nuclear regulation, training and higher education, as well as on advanced vocational and postgraduate study programmes. The Deputy Prime Minister met Minister for National Development Zsuzsa Németh and visited the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant as well.
The education and training of substantial numbers of professionals in nuclear technologies are essential for Vietnam, underlined by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan. The three decades of professional and engineering experiences of Hungary are highly valued with respect to the acquisition of special knowledge and expertise. Vietnam plans to start building its first nuclear power plant in 2014 and to install it in 2020. It would mean a new era in Vietnam’s energy supply and management. Vietnam made significant steps to become a country that promotes peaceful use of nuclear energy. Vietnam’s new industry requires a large number of highly qualified nuclear professionals.
During the visit in Paks, Minister of State for Energy Affairs Pál Kovács emphasised the importance of educational cooperation between the two countries, which is enhanced by high level professional consultations and bilateral agreements. The Vietnamese party is particularly interested in nuclear experiences, which is a recognition of Hungarian nuclear energy expertise and Hungary’s nuclear industry. Hungary has been operating its single nuclear power plant safely for 30 years and participates actively in international nuclear R&D projects.
During the three terms of the program 116 Vietnamese students have successfully completed the training organised by the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. and Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME). The fourth course with approximately 40 Vietnamese participants will start in September 2013. Mr. Pál Kovács hopes that the negotiations will enable Hungary to cover the whole range of nuclear education in the future, involving all Hungarian nuclear institutions. Indispensable theoretical and practical knowledge would be delivered by recognised Hungarian representatives of nuclear science and the profession, including not only BME but also the Hungarian Academy of Sciences KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute in Master and Ph.D. training, in the technical education and training of scientific and R&D professionals. The Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority would provide a training program for regulators and licensees, the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. would train operators and maintenance technicians.
The Vietnamese party is contented with the present training program, and expressed its intention to realize longer-term training programs in the future. Further discussions were held on this subject on 30 July 2013 with the participation of Deputy Minister for Science and Technology Tran Viet Thanh, Deputy Minister for Education and Training Tran Quang Quy and Minister of State Pál Kovács.
The Vietnamese delegation visited the MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant on 29 July 2013 to get acquainted with one of the main location of nuclear training course launched in September 2012 with the participation of university professors and lecturers from Vietnam. MVM (Hungarian Electricity Ltd.) Chairman-CEO Csaba Baji welcomed the members of the delegation. The operation of the Maintenance Training Centre and the nuclear power plant has been explained by MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. CEO István Hamvas and the Minister of State for Energy Affairs.
(Ministry of National Development Communication Department)
